Tintagel 7 Series
by WldCatSprStr-14
Summary: A Space Station AU
1. Spy On Me

When he came across the surveillance footage of Arthur, his body moving jerkily under his bedclothes, Merlin went from annoyed (Arthur was the reason he even _had _surveillance duty) to confused to embarrassed to turned on in quick succession. Once he realized what Arthur was doing and _really, how could he not have instantly known?_, Merlin immediately moved to tap the "Next" button on the holo-pad; it wasn't right for him to intrude like this, even if Arthur didn't know he could see.

And then the coverlet fell to the ground and Arthur's naked body swam into view, blue-tinted on the holo-screen but not one microbit less gorgeous. And Merlin's hand hesitated because this was _Arthur_, the star cadet on the fleet who tortured Merlin relentlessly every time he saw him in the mess hall and who was also the most stunning creature that Merlin had ever laid eyes on. Arthur was the main focus of every one of Merlin's wet dreams and waking fantasies since Merlin had joined the crew of Tintagel 7 three weeks before.

And he was touching himself, right there on the holo-screen, in perfect real-time and Merlin could _see _him.

He was writhing in his bunk, practically right there in front of Merlin's eyes, and fuck these security cameras for not picking up sound as well. Merlin wanted to hear him, needed to hear the beautiful noises that Arthur was making because Merlin had no doubt that they would be the most fucking _gorgeous _noises that he had ever heard. _Did he grunt the same way he did when he trained with the rest of the cadets? Or maybe he groaned like he did when he stepped under the hot showers in the washroom after a long day?_

After a while, Merlin found that he didn't even _care _how Arthur sounded anymore because Arthur was licking two of his fingers and _fuck_, Merlin had to press the heel of his hand against his crotch to keep himself from coming at just the sight of it. The touch of his hand was everything except helpful at curtailing his arousal and Merlin groaned as tendrils of pleasure raced through his veins. He'd been hard since he first realized that Arthur was stroking himself and he held no illusions that he'd last any longer than he usually did when he was having a wank in his bunk and thinking of Arthur, or stroking himself in the shower, hard and just this side of painful, or having it off with Edwin in the training room supply closet, Arthur's eyes flashing behind his eyelids. He was going to cum soon, probably right there in his regulation blue cadet slacks, but he'd be damned if he was going to miss even a _microsecond _of this.

Arthur had pulled one of his thighs back against his chest and was working the two spit-slicked fingers into his hole, his head thrown back as he let out a silent cry, his strong neck exposed in all its glory but Merlin couldn't even spare a glance. His eyes were glued to the place where Arthur was rapidly pounding himself with his fingers and Merlin hit the "Zoom" button on the holo-pad without even thinking, zooming in just enough to see closer without losing sight of Arthur's face, screwed up in concentration.

_Fuck me. I can't take much more of this. _Merlin barely finished the thought before Arthur's body was shuddering out its release, the hand on Arthur's cock never stopping its movement as cum landed in blue-tinted stripes all over Arthur's chest. Arthur was coming right there on the screen in front of him and Merlin was sure he'd never be able to look the other cadet in the eyes ever again without remembering the way he looked as he came. Not that it mattered much at the moment because Arthur was dragging his fingers through the mess on his chest and moving them towards his lips and there, right fucking _there,_ Merlin was coming, his eyes shut tight, one hand gripping the edge of the console in front of his and the other pressing down hard against his groin as his cock jerked and he came _right in his fucking pants. _

When Merlin opened his eyes, Arthur's face was so close to the camera lens that Merlin could see the sweat-slick hair stuck to his forehead. And then Arthur winked.


	2. The Right Size

"I know you're avoiding me, Merlin."

At the sound of Arthur's voice, Merlin startled and nearly dumped his tray of food all over the cadet that was in front of him in line. He'd been avoiding Arthur all week, taking hurried showers, practically inhaling his meals, and purposefully getting himself into trouble so he would be put on latrine duty, all just so Arthur wouldn't have any chance to approach him. Merlin's hands had never been prunier, the toilets on the lower deck of the T had never been shinier, and Merlin was sure his arms had never been stronger but he'd managed to avoid Arthur at every turn (Tintagel's golden-boy would never be caught scrubbing a toilet). The crew was being deployed to the Camelot space station for a three-week training session at the end of the week. They would be undergoing training with the other 6 Tintagel fleets and Merlin had been hoping to finish the week and make it to training, where both he and Arthur would be too busy to talk about what had happened.

_No such luck._

"A-Arthur! I didn't see you there…," Merlin said lamely, turning to face the blond. The flush on Arthur's cheeks and the wet strands of hair matted to his forehead testified to the hard workout that Arthur had just subjected himself. Merlin couldn't help the appraising once-over that he gave the rest of Arthur's body, taking in the blue jumpsuit which Arthur had stripped off half way, revealing the plain white t-shirt underneath, the neckline damp with sweat. _How did Arthur manage to look this good even when he _should _have been absolutely repellent? _

"I _know_, Merlin," Arthur said, motioning for the cadets behind him to pass them in the line. "I walked up behind you so unless you have eyes in the back of your head, I'll try not to take offense to you not noticing me. Although…" he said, crouching down to catch Merlin's eye, making the brunet flush red when he realized he'd been caught staring, "with those ears of yours, you should have just been able to _hear _me walk up."

As he said it, Arthur reached up to stroke the shell of Merlin's right ear, causing Merlin to stumble backwards. Only this time there was no unsuspecting cadet to break his fall and Merlin would have gone tumbling to the ground, tray and cold dinner and all, if Arthur hadn't reached out, grabbed him by the front of his jumpsuit and dragged him forward. Unfortunately for them both, Merlin was lighter than Arthur anticipated and Merlin (and his dinner) came crashing forward, flat against Arthur's chest.

Looking absolutely horror-stricken, Merlin turned to the nearest table and grabbed a handful of napkins from a dispenser before turning back and beginning to wipe ineffectively at the stains on Arthur's white shirt, his efforts only serving to smear the brownish mess even more.

"I am _so _sorry, Arthur. Here. I'll just- Let me clean this u-," Merlin stuttered out, his rambling silenced by Arthur's hands- _warm-_ around his wrists and the rumble of a laugh that he could feel where his hands rested on Arthur's chest. Merlin looked up to find Arthur staring back at him with something like a mixture of fondness and amusement in his eyes, a small smile on his lips, and Merlin involuntarily licked his own lips, his breath catching when Arthur's gaze shifted sharply to track the movement. Something fiery flashed through Arthur's eyes and his grip on Merlin's wrists tightened slightly.

"It's fine Merlin. However, I think you owe me a new shirt," he said, his voice husky with something so strong that it made Merlin's knees weak to identify and Merlin desperately cast his eyes around the canteen over Arthur's shoulder, searching for some escape from the situation. _Where the fuck was Will when you needed him?_ Merlin spotted Lance on the other side of the canteen and inwardly sighed with relief.

"Yea, I know. I really am sorry about that," Merlin replied, willing his voice not to shake as Arthur shifted his stance to block Merlin's view of Lance. "I'll be sure to pick you up a new one the next time I'm on latrine duty, which should be soon since I'm down there all the…time," he said, trying to inject some humor into his voice and faltering a bit when Arthur moved forward, closing the space between them and trapping Merlin's arms.

"Well that was my favorite one," Arthur whispered, so close that Merlin could smell the slight tang of sweat on his skin and didn't Arthur realize that _they were in the middle of the canteen? _Merlin went to turn his head and abruptly turned it back the other way when his cheek brushed against Arthur's, the late-day stubble abrading his skin slightly and sending a shiver down his spine _and dear God, when did Arthur get closer? Fuck. _He really needed to get away from Arthur before the blond got any closer and _felt…stuff._

Just as Merlin was about to step back, Arthur released his right wrist and his hand came up to grip the back of Merlin's neck, pulling Merlin's head so close that Merlin could feel Arthur's breath warm against his ear as he spoke. "_Yes_," Arthur practically _moaned,_ his fingers slipping below the collar of Merlin's jumpsuit and _Jesus. MIDDLE OF THE CANTEEN!_

"Ar-Arthur…What are you doing?" Merlin stammered, trying to pull away but Arthur just held him tighter. "Don't move, Merlin," Arthur said sharply. Merlin could feel Arthur's breath directly over the shell of his right ear and he knew that if he looked, he would see out of his peripheral vision that Arthur had tilted his head slightly. "I need to do this."

By this point, Merlin was panicking. Arthur was so close to him now, there was no way he couldn't feel Merlin's erection against his hip. Merlin's face was so hot and he was sure he was flushed a very angry red at that point and everyone probably _knew_, his face was probably just a big red beacon and people were probably _staring _and did Arthur really need to do this _here?_

"Yea that's good, Merlin. Exactly what I need," Arthur murmured, his breath now ghosting over Merlin's neck and Merlin was just about to give up and lean into it when suddenly Arthur's mouth was gone, the cool air of the canteen rushing in to knock Merlin back to reality and leaving him slightly off-kilter.

"W-what happened? Arthur?," Merlin asked, puzzled, his disappointment showing openly in the raspy whine of his voice. Arthur stepped back slowly, releasing Merlin's other hand and letting it drop. There was a flush on high on his cheeks which traveled down his neck to disappear into the collar of his shirt and Merlin was sorely tempted to grab Arthur by the shirt and use his tongue to find out just how far down that flush went.

"I'll be at your room later to get what you owe me, Merlin," Arthur said, smirking at Merlin's confused expression. Then he reached over and pulled Merlin forward by waist of his jumpsuit, leaving them standing face to face again. "It's exactly my size. It's a good thing I like them tight," he said, then huffed out a laugh when Merlin's face contorted further in confusion. "Your shirt, Merlin. I was just checking the size." Leaning in to speak directly into Merlin's ear, he whispered, "What did you think I was doing?"

And then Arthur was gone, striding out of the canteen and leaving Merlin standing there, barely breathing and flushed, his spilled dinner still at his feet.


	3. Elbows

The first thing Merlin did when he got back to his room was tear through the place on an express-cleaning spree. He knew had time to clean it up properly later as inspection wasn't until the morning that they deployed for training, so all of his clothes (some dirty, some just in the wrong place at the wrong time) were kicked haphazardly under the bed. Merlin even took the time to change his sheets- _and don't ask him _why._ He just did it-_ shoving the used bedding into his closet and slamming the door.

The second thing Merlin did was have his obligatory internal freak-out. He had managed to make it out of the canteen without being stopped by anyone, only drawing a few uninterested looks from the people he walked by, and had forced himself to not think about Arthur's words - _never mind his words! What about the way he was _touching _you?_ - or what they might mean, until he was safely inside his room.

_Arthur is coming to my room,_ he thought. _The place where I sleep. Naked. In my _bed. _Also the place where I wank. While I think about __Arthur_.

Merlin looked over to his bedside table and couldn't stop the hysterical giggle that bubbled up inside him. It was already seven-thirty. Lights-out was at nine every night and while no one ever actually went to sleep (except maybe Lance, who was always sickeningly up early so he could help out Gwen in the weapons room every morning), the cadets still had to be in their rooms at nine on the button. Arthur could show up at any point in the next hour or so. _What was he going to _do_?_

Making to stand up, the sensation of his shirt un-sticking from his chest made Merlin grimace. He was still wearing his gravy-smeared shirt and the mess was beginning to fuse itself to his skin. Resigning himself to the fact that Arthur was going to show up whether he got up off of the floor or not, Merlin hoisted himself up. "I've already cleaned everything else," Merlin thought out loud as he stripped off his stained clothes, wrapped his navy blue towel around his waist, and made his way to the showers. Hoping to make it back to his room before Arthur arrived, he scrubbed himself down briskly, punching a button on the shower wall to dispense the low-grade soap that all the washrooms on the station were equipped with, and washing his hair quickly before toweling off and dashing back to his room.

Towel around his waist, Merlin dashed to his closet to find some clothes. Having forgotten that he'd shoved everything in there before he went to shower, Merlin yanked open the closet door and found himself buried under a pile of bedding.

"Damn it!" Untangling himself from the sheets, Merlin quickly jammed them back into the closet and forced the door closed. Turning to grab something from his dresser instead, Merlin froze at the sound of a knock on his door.

"Merlin?"

_Pleasedon''tbeArthur._

"Merlin? It's Arthur."

_Shit._

Scrambling to his dresser, Merlin wrenched open a drawer and started to pull on the first shirt he grabbed. Arthur was still calling from outside the door and it was doing nothing to help Merlin's anxiety. Realizing that he was trying to put his head through one of the arm holes, Merlin tried to yank his head free, only to bang his elbow on the open drawer.

"Fuuuck!"

"Merlin! Are you OK? What just happened? I'm coming in!"

Staggering around, clutching his elbow, his head still stuck in his shirt, Merlin barely had time to call out "wait!" before Arthur pushed open the door and tumbled into his room, obviously expecting to see Merlin grievously injured or bleeding on the floor.

Instead he found Merlin standing in the middle of the room, his head stuck in his shirt and his towel hanging precariously from his hips. And instead of walking away like Merlin was silently praying that he would,-_Dear God, _please_ just _walk away- Arthur burst out laughing.

By this point, Merlin was hoping that the floor would simply open up and swallow him whole. When no such thing happened, he began to try to free himself from the shirt, which only served to make Arthur laugh harder, which in turn made Merlin struggle more fiercely, fumbling blindly around the room. Merlin couldn't see Arthur, his head being well and properly lodged in the shirt sleeve, but he could imagine Arthur rolling on the ground, clutching his sides as he laughed at Merlin's expense, and suddenly Merlin was angry.

"Could you stop laughing for two microseconds, you twat, and _help me_?"

To Merlin's surprise, the laughter stopped immediately and a pair of hands was suddenly on him, slowly easing the shirt off of his head. When his head was no longer stuck, Merlin ran a hand through his hair and looked up to see Arthur standing in front of him, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

Startled by how close Arthur was, Merlin reflexively took a step back, his knees hitting the edge of his bed. His eyes opened in surprise and, for the second time that night, he started to tumble backwards. Again, Arthur grabbed hold of him to pull him back up but instead of Merlin ending up on his feet, he ended up flat on his back with a very amused-looking Arthur plastered against his bare chest.

"Hello, Merlin."

Face-to-face, Arthur's breath ghosted over Merlin's lips as he spoke, making Merlin flush a deep red. _Why did he always end up in this situation? _

"Um. Hello, Arthur."

Merlin could see the individual hairs of Arthur's eyebrows where they curled against Arthur's forehead, a bit damp and slightly darker than the rest of his hair usually was. He could also smell the trace of soap on Arthur's skin, the same kind he had used in the shower not ten minutes before, and another scent, not a cologne or lotion, lingering underneath it. _Arthur's scent,_ Merlin realized, his face heating up even more.

Arthur was watching him intently. He hadn't made any move to get up, the weight of him was slowly becoming familiar to Merlin and much to Merlin's horror, his own body chose that instant to start responding. He had to get Arthur off of him soon before he noticed.

"Um you came here to get a shirt," he said lamely, hoping to jog Arthur's memory. "They're, uh, over there in the drawer. You can even take the one I was trying to get into. It's clean. I'd just taken it out of the drawer when you…" Merlin's voice trailed off when Arthur's face dipped closer to his own.

"I like you, Merlin," Arthur said, his blue eyes suddenly dark. He pulled his arm out from where it was lodged between their bodies and brought both hands up to card through Merlin's hair. "A lot."

_Wait. Was he going to-? _

Merlin didn't have a chance to finish his thought before Arthur's mouth was on his. Arthur's lips felt even better than Merlin had imagined and when Arthur's fingers slipped down to stroke the lobe of Merlin's ear, Merlin gasped against his mouth.

_Holy fuck. _

Chuckling lightly, Arthur took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, running his tongue across Merlin's teeth. Taking the initiative, Merlin stroked Arthur's tongue with his own, making Arthur groan and thrust his hips downward.

"Oh fuck," Merlin ground out, bringing his hands up to scrabble at Arthur's shirt. "Off. _Now._"

Sitting up, Arthur gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it off. Merlin's gaze followed the exposed planes of stomach and chest before coming up to lock eyes with the man above him. Arthur's eyes were intense and his hair was sticking up wildly. The flush from before was back and this time Merlin could see that it traveled down Arthur's neck and stopped just above his nipples, which were hard even though the room was not cold in the least.

Merlin had only a moment to admire the view before Arthur was on him again, his kiss fierce and punishing this time and his hips grinding hard against Merlin's. Merlin could feel Arthur, hard against his hip, through the combined fabric of his towel and Arthur's pants, and when Arthur pulled back slightly to nip at his lips, Merlin braced his feet against the bed frame and thrust upwards.

"God, _Merlin. _So good," Arthur groaned, burying his head in the curve of Merlin's neck and matching each of Merlin's thrusts with his own, equally insistent and needy.

Merlin could tell that Arthur was getting close and he wasn't going to last much longer himself. He was going to come all over himself again, except this time Arthur was _right here._ Right on top of him, flushed and panting and hard and _on top of him. _

At the thought, Merlin felt his orgasm surge up inside him and he barely groaned out "Fuck. Arthur, I'm-" before his release ripped through him, hot and white and _so good_.

Through his haze, Merlin felt Arthur's body tense up against him and he opened his eyes to see Arthur, his eyes screwed shut tight, as _he _came in _his _pants because of _Merlin. _

Arthur gave several weak shudders before he collapsed on top of Merlin, his breath coming out harsh and searing against Merlin's shoulder. As the effects of his orgasms faded, Merlin could feel Arthur's heart still thundering against his chest. When his heart stopped pounding, Arthur slowly hoisted himself up and flopped down on his back beside Merlin. Unfortunately, now Merlin could also feel the wet stickiness of his release beginning to cool against his stomach and hip. As awful as it would feel if he let it dry, Merlin was in no hurry to get up. _If you don't get up, you won't have to deal with the awkwardness. Just close your eyes and pretend you fell asleep._

"Merlin?"

"Huh?"

_Well so much for _that _plan._

"Isn't it much better when there's no camera separating us?"

The grin in Arthur's voice was evident and Merlin mentally slapped himself for hoping that Arthur would have forgotten what happened. The bed shifted next to him and he could feel the heat from Arthur's body against his arm.

"Now aren't you glad I got you in trouble on purpose?"

At Arthur's words, Merlin's eyes popped open. Arthur's face was right above his and his arms shot out in surprise, his elbow nearly knocking Arthur on the chin. Luckily, Arthur was fast and jerked his head back in time.

"Watch where you're flailing those things! They're sharp!"

Sitting up to face Arthur, Merlin fixed the blond with a murderous glare. "What do you mean 'on purpose'?"

Instead of looking guilty, Arthur just grinned. "Well how else was I going to get your attention? In training, you tripped over your own feet at least once that week because you were so busy _looking_ at me and whenever I started to say "hi," you'd bolt." At the accusation, Merlin felt himself flush again and he turned away. "You wouldn't stay still long enough for me to talk to you like a normal person so I decided to give you a little show. I _would _ask if you liked it but considering you've been running from me all week, I'll just assume you did."

Merlin should have been affronted by the self-satisfied grin on Arthur's face but his brain was still processing Arthur's words. _"How else was I going to get your attention?" "Whenever I started to say 'hi'..."_ Arthur had actually _wanted_ to talk to him. He'd noticed him. And he liked him.

Looking back at Arthur, Merlin found him reclining against the pillows, his eyes closed and a content smile on his lips. He didn't look uncomfortable or like he was regretting it at all. He also didn't look like he was planning on moving any time soon.

Suddenly panicked, Merlin's eyes darted to the clock. _Eight forty. _

"Shit! Arthur, you have to go!"

Arthur's eyes popped open and Merlin mentally slapped himself again when he saw the hurt in them. "No, it's not you or anything like that! I'm not trying to say I hated it or something. It's just, lights-out is in twenty and you gotta get back to your room."

The realization dawning on him, Arthur jumped out of his bed and began struggling to get his shirt back on. In his haste, he managed to get both arms stuck in the neck hole and immediately stopped struggling once he realized what had happened.

"Uh. Merlin? Can you help?"

Snickering softly, Merlin went over and slowly helped Arthur get his shirt back off. Flushing slightly, Arthur had the grace to look guilty in the face of Merlin's appraising eyebrow. Then the moment passed and he was dashing out the door. As Merlin made to close the door begin him, Arthur's head popped back through the doorway.

"So you weren't trying to say that you hated it…Does that mean that you liked it?" Arthur's eyes avoided Merlin's as he asked and it took Merlin a moment to realize that this was what Arthur looked like when he was nervous.

It was quite endearing.

Taking his hand off the door handle, Merlin placed it on Arthur's shoulder and, when Arthur finally looked up at him, Merlin smiled.

"Yes, Arthur. I liked it. Very much. Now _go_!"

A grin burst out across his face and Arthur started to dash off again before turning back and pressing a quick kiss to Merlin's lips. Then he was gone, leaving Merlin standing in the doorway, grinning after him like a fool.

FIN.


End file.
